Ball State goes deep, hammers CMU's MAC title hopes

Central Michigan centerfielder Macy Merchant gets ready to sprint to second base in the bottom of the first inning against Ball State at Margo Jonker Stadium April 26, 2013. (Sun photo by KEN KADWELL/@KenKadwell).

They had all the drive of a broken driveshaft and played with a lackadaisical urgency that bordered on procrastination.

Heading into Fridayís Mid-American Conference doubleheader versus Ball State the Central Michigan University softball team had an opportunity to make a run at first place in the MAC West Division standings and put itself in a better position heading into the stretch run that will play out over the coming week.

However the Chippewas only showed up in physical form as the Cardinals came out with more energy and chutzpah and swept the twinbill from Margo Jonker Stadium, winning a five-inning 12-0 laugher to open the day before claiming the nightcap 6-4 in 10 innings.

With the wins Ball State (32-13, 15-1 MAC) puts a hammerlock on the West Division while the Chippewas (25-16, 11-5) are now left searching for answers as they have lost four straight heading into Saturdayís 2 p.m. home game versus MAC East Division leader Miami.

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The tone was set in the first inning of game one as Ball State scored six times, four coming via a grand slam off the bat of Selena Reyna. They added two more in the second, three more in the third and one in the fifth.

In short by the time CMU had figured out there was a game being played it was already over as the Cardinals delivered a one-two-three punch that floored the hosts right out of the chute.

ďObviously game one was a bad game for us,Ē said a dejected CMU head coach Margo Jonker. ďWe didnít come to play at all in that game and Iím disappointed that our pitchers obviously got rocked and our offense didnít do much so itís disappointing. Game two I thought we played with good effort and came back, we just couldnít move the runners, if we move the runners in a couple situations we win the game in seven (innings).Ē

CMUís opening-game starter Kara Dornbos (10-10) lasted all of one inning against the MACís top offensive team before being yanked for Morgan Yuncker who went the final four innings.

Ball State, which hit five home runs on the day and now has 57 for the season, finished with 12 runs on 10 hits in the opener while CMU had no runs on three hits and two fielding errors.

Chelsea Sundberg fared much better in game two as she limited the Cardinals to one run through seven frames. Yet the story of the day was CMUís offense, or lack thereof, as it did very little to help the cause.

In game two the Chippewas put the lead-off hitter on in six of the first seven frames yet only tallied one run, it coming in the second. Trista Cox led off the second by reaching on a throwing error that allowed her to reach second.

Two outs later Brittney Horan singled her home to give CMU a 1-0 lead. From there the Chippewas wasted a lead-off walk to Summer Knoop; a lead-off double by Macy Merchant; a lead-off single by Cox and another lead-off single from Merchant.

The Cardinals got a solo homer from Audrey Bickel in the fifth to tie it at 1-1 and the game remained this way until the top of the eight when 2012 MAC Player of the Year Jennifer Gilbert deposited a Sundberg pitch over the wall in left for a three-run homer and a 4-1 lead.

CMU showed some heart in the bottom of the frame as Horan had a two-run homer to make it 4-3. Raechel Zahrn then reached on a error and scored on an error to make it 4-4 but Ball State scored twice in the 10th, using three hits, to nail down the win.

Sundberg (8-4) took the loss as she allowed six earned runs on 10 hits while striking out five and walking one in 10 innings.

Next up for the Chippewas is single games Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) against Miami. These two games are the final two home games of the 2013 season for CMU.